Category: 1950s
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Big Joe Turner
About Joseph Vernon “Big Joe” Turner Jr. was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, “Rock and roll would have never happened without him”. Turner’s greatest fame was due to his rock and roll recordings in the 1950s, particularly “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, but his career as a performer…
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Big Mama Thornton
About Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B. Albums/Songs: Big Mama Thornton and the Chicago Blues Band They Called Me Big Mama Big Mama Swing Big Mama the Queen at Monterey Partnership Blues The Essential Recordings Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings In Europe Big Mama Thornton…
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Fats Domino
About Antoine Dominique Domino Jr., known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orleans to a French Creole family, Domino signed to Imperial Records in 1949. His first single “The Fat Man” is cited…
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Muddy Waters
About McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the “father of modern Chicago blues”. His style of playing has been described as “raining down Delta beatitude”. Albums/Songs: McKinley Morganfield A.K.A. Muddy…
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Hank Snow
About Clarence Eugene “Hank” Snow was a Canadian-American country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Most popular in the 1950s, he was active more than 50 years. He recorded 140 albums, and charted more than 85 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980. His number-one hits include the self-penned songs “I’m Moving On”,…
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Dinah Washington
About Dinah Washington was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music, and gave herself the title of “Queen of the Blues”. She was a…
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Bill Haley
About William John Clifton Haley was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-selling hits such as “Rock Around the Clock”, “See You Later, Alligator”, “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, “Rocket 88”,…
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Ritchie Valens
About Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died in a plane crash just eight months after his breakthrough. Albums/Songs: The Story Hits and Other Favorites Greatest Hits The Complete…
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Johnny Cash
About John R. Cash was an American country singer-songwriter. Most of Cash’s music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his backing band, The Tennessee Three, that was characterized by its train-like…
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Frankie Laine
About Frankie Laine was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of “That’s My Desire” in 2005. Often billed as “America’s Number One Song Stylist”, his other nicknames include “Mr. Rhythm”, “Old Leather Lungs”, and “Mr.…
